Return with us now
by Alaidh
Summary: This is in response to a challenge issued in the Cape Haven Writers' Group


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Disclaimer: Don't own 'em.

This fic is in response to a challenge by Abregaza of the Cape Haven Writers' Group. She is the second person to disturb the bubbles in my head.

Thanks to Kasman and Kyre for the beta.

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**_Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear..._**

Logan sat in silence. He looked in horror at the invitation he'd just received in the mail: "You are cordially invited to attend an evening of dinner and music in celebration of the 40th wedding anniversary of Jonas and Margo Cale." _Oh, God. How am I going to get out of this? _he thought. "No. There's no way I'm going to attend."

"Attend what?"

Logan looked up in surprise to see Max leaning against his doorframe.

"You know, one of these days it might be nice to maybe, I don't know, make a little noise before scaring the pants off me?"

_Hmm...interesting visual, _thought Max. She chuckled out loud. "So, you gonna tell me what has you so on edge?" she asked as she walked into his office.

Logan sighed and handed Max the invitation. She snatched it out of his hand eagerly.

"Ooh! This looks like fun! You're not chickening out, are you?" she laughed.

"Look, Max, you met my family at Bennett's wedding. I'm not ready to deal with them again so soon."

"Yup. Chicken," she grinned, showing all her teeth.

"Max..."

"C'mon, Logan! It'll be fun. And I'll bet the food will be amazing. I'm drooling just thinking about it."

Logan sighed again, this time in defeat. "Fine, but don't expect me to be sociable and please let me buy you a dress this time?"

Max pondered this for a moment, then conceded. "Okay, but only if you promise to at least pretend to be in a good mood." Logan rolled his eyes. "Promise!" she insisted.

"All right," he said, "but don't expect me to like it."

"Cool. Now what's for dinner?" Max asked with another grin. Logan again rolled his eyes and headed for the kitchen, his mood somewhat improved.

* * *

"So Logan's paying this time around?" asked Kendra as she, Max and Original Cindy walked into Steinberg's Dress Shop, an upscale shop in a more affluent part of town.

"Yeah, he made me promise I'd let him this time."

"Gee, Max, I wonder why?" Cindy quipped.

Max glared at her. "So, what d'ya think of this one?" she asked, pointing out a little black number. Original Cindy and Kendra considered the dress.

"Nah, too dark. Boo, ya gotta lighten up some, gotta shed some o' them black clothes. The night's gonna be warm. You need something more fittin' to the season, more fun."

They browsed a little longer, Max holding up dress after dress, OC and Kendra shaking their heads over and over, until Kendra gasped.

"What?" Max and OC asked in unison.

"It's perfect," Kendra said, pointing to a little pale buttery-yellow dress. It was cut above the knee, figure hugging and sleeveless in a light, satiny fabric.

"Yup, perfect," echoed Cindy.

Max took the dress from Kendra and held it up in front of her. She turned to one of the sales clerks, who had for the most part been ignoring the three girls. "Can I try this in a size 5, please?" Max asked sweetly.

"Sure, I'll be right back." The woman looked at them a little suspiciously but headed into the back of the store to find the dress.

Original Cindy rolled her eyes. "How you gonna pay for this, boo? Your boy give you his platinum card?"

"Nah, he figured it would be less of a hassle if he just gave me the scrilla. The clerks are already itchin' ta call in the troops."

"Probably a good plan," nodded Cindy.

The sales clerk returned with a dress in Max's size. Max disappeared behind the curtain of the change room. Within what seemed like mere seconds, she was back out, modelling the dress and giving them a twirl. "Wow," her friends gasped.

Kendra added, "Fits like a glove." Max smiled demurely and disappeared back into the change room.

After Max paid for the dress and a matching wrap, causing a collective sigh of relief among the sales staff, Kendra pointed out that Max would need shoes to go along with her new dress. They headed down the street to the nearest shoe store, giggling all the way, Logan having given Max more than enough money for three dresses.

* * *

It was Friday night, the night of the party, and Logan was quite testy. He'd snapped at Bling more than once that afternoon during his workout, which only caused Bling to smile knowingly.

Considering this was a family event, he'd poked through his closet until he found one of his better shirts and a nice pair of pants. He decided to make one concession for Margo, though, he shaved.

He would be picking Max up at her apartment and heading to Jonas's mansion from there. _I feel like a lamb being led to the slaughter, _he thought to himself. _Well, I can't get out of it now, so I'd better make the best of it. _He grabbed his jacket and headed out the door.

* * *

Max had been getting ready for over an hour. Cindy had tried hairstyle after hairstyle on her, finally settling on a style similar to the one Max had worn to the wedding but not piled quite so high. After adding a tiny pair of gold earrings and a delicate tennis bracelet, Max was ready to go.

At the knock on the door, Original Cindy shooed Max into her bedroom. "Ya gotta make an entrance, boo!" she grinned, then went to open the door.

"Kendra! Geez, get your ass in here. I thought it was Logan comin' ta collect our girl."

"Sorry," laughed Kendra. "I wanted to see how she turned out." Max came out of the bedroom, laughing, and Kendra smiled approvingly. "He's not gonna be able to take his eyes off you all night, sweetie." Max blushed and rolled her eyes.

Again there was a knock at the door and again Max was shooed into her bedroom. This time Kendra answered the door. Logan looked up at her and smiled, "Is Max ready?"

"You tell me," she answered, and moved out of the way so Logan could see Max's 'entrance'. Logan's gaze fell on Max as he pushed himself into the apartment.

"Wow," he said, mouth agape, "I'm...speechless."

Again Max blushed, saying, "So am I to believe that silly grin is genuine and not your attempt at pretending to have a good time?"

Logan laughed. "Well, I can't promise anything, but with such a lovely lady to keep me company, who knows?"

Max giggled. "Let's go, Romeo, or we're gonna be late."

"After you," said Logan. He spun around to follow her out the door, only to look back as he heard a barely audible sigh coming from Kendra and Cindy. He smiled and closed the door behind him.

* * *

Logan became more and more apprehensive the closer they got to the mansion. Max's attempts to calm him only succeeded in making him more agitated.

As they pulled up in front of the house, Logan was surprised to see that a ramp had been set out for him near the front door.

"Well, what did you expect, Logan? You did RSVP – they knew you were coming and there was a ramp here when Bennett got married!"

"True. It's just that any thoughtfulness on the part of my family always shocks me a little."

"Oh, brother," answered Max. "They're not ogres, Logan, just a little, well, misguided in their thinking."

"We'll see how open-minded you are at the end of the evening," he countered.

After showing the valet how to operate the hand controls, Logan set up his wheelchair and transferred into the seat. Max came around the car to meet him and walked behind him up the ramp.

They were greeted at the door by Rosa, the maid. She smiled, took Max's wrap and gestured towards the front room. "The family is gathered in here for drinks, Mr. Cale." They thanked her and, with a deep breath on Logan's part, entered the room.

"Logan!" bellowed Jonas. "So glad you could make it! My, my, the same girl two functions in a row. Is this a record?"

Logan let out a fake little laugh and stole a sideways glance up at Max. "You remember Max, Uncle Jonas?"

"Nice to see you again," Max said with her brightest smile.

"Yeeess...nice to see you, too," Jonas said, as if trying to remember something but failing. "Well, come on in and join the party. Have a seat, well, the one of you who isn't already seated, and have a drink," Jonas snickered as he sauntered away.

Max looked down at Logan, a little worried that he might just turn around and leave but Logan seemed fine. "Water off a duck's back, Max. He's already three sheets to the wind."

Max burst out laughing. "Okay, now where's the food?"

* * *

Logan was quite content to sit and watch as Max mingled, laughing and chatting with the guests, until everyone was told to move into the dining room for supper. Logan was again surprised at seeing one place setting minus a chair. _Must be Margo's doing, _he mused.

The dinner was going very smoothly - small talk, stories about the guests' children - until Jonas decided it was time to tell childhood stories about his own kids...and his nephew. "Oh, yes, Logan sure liked to dress up. I remember one Sunday morning trying to convince him that church was not the place for a cowboy hat and guns...Logan, I think we still have that hat. It was his favourite," he told the crowd. "Rosa, can you look upstairs in Margo's closet? There's a box of some of Logan's old toys – it should be marked. Bring down his old hat, will you?"

"Certainly, Mr. Cale," she said, with an apologetic look at Logan. Max couldn't help grinning in anticipation.

About five minutes later, Rosa reappeared with the hat, a tiny replica of the Lone Ranger's. Logan cringed. He had hoped that Jonas was just imagining that it still existed – in his present state of inebriation, anything was possible.

"Now, Logan, you _must _try it on for us," Jonas smiled, a little evilly, Max thought.

"No, that's okay, Jonas. I'm sure nobody wants to see that."

"Oh, c'mon, Logan, be a sport," Max nudged him, her grin mirroring Jonas's. Logan looked at Max, his eyes like ice. Rosa handed him the hat, an expression on her face that looked a little like fear, a little like amusement.

"Fine...there." He slapped the hat on his head and just as quickly whipped it off again.

"Oh, Logan, you looked adorable! Put it back on and let me get the camera!" cried Margo as she ran out of the room. Logan looked at her retreating form in horror. Max was no longer able to contain her laughter, though she knew she'd pay for it later.

Margo re-emerged, camera in hand. "Come on, Logan," Max prompted. He sighed in defeat and put the little hat back on his head, plastering a big, fake, toothy smile on his face. Margo snapped the picture while the guests had a good laugh at Logan's expense.

"They're laughing with you, Logan," giggled Max.

"Max, I'm not laughing." This just made her giggle even more.

* * *

The rest of the evening seemed to drag on forever for Logan; now more than ever, he wanted to escape. Max, on the other hand, seemed to be having the time of her life. _Well, I guess the evening's not a total waste. She's certainly having a good time, _he thought.

When midnight rolled around, Logan was finally able to convince Max that it was time to head home. With a disappointed sigh, she agreed and went to collect her wrap.

Margo was still in entertaining mode, so Jonas saw them to the door. "So nice to see you again, Max. I hope you'll grace my house with your presence again," Jonas leered, his eyes slightly unfocussed.

"I had a wonderful time, thanks," Max smiled back, a little nervous at the look she was getting from Jonas. Without warning and before she had time to pull away, he had her in a liplock. Max's eyes grew to the size of saucers as she tried to get away, arms flailing. Logan couldn't help himself and burst out laughing just as Max was able to break away.

"Come back soon," Jonas said in a drunken, singsong voice.

"Oh, I wouldn't bet on it," Max answered angrily. Suppressing the want to smack him across the face, she turned and stalked out the door. Logan followed close behind, still suppressing giggles.

"Well, Max, I hate to say I told you so...."

If looks could kill...

_Something tells me Jonas won't be seeing Max at a third function any time soon,_ laughed Logan to himself as they drove home in silence.


End file.
